Sierra Pacific Aspen Casements: Specs, Aging & Service Guide

Wood Windows Inc is not an authorized Sierra Pacific dealer. We service, repair, and replace Sierra Pacific windows and doors throughout the Treasure Valley.

Sierra Pacific Aspen Collection (Aluminum-Clad Casements & Awnings) — Key Facts

Frame material: Solid wood interior (ponderosa pine standard; alder, maple, cherry, mahogany, Douglas fir, walnut, white oak optional) with extruded aluminum exterior cladding at least twice the thickness of roll-form clad, powder-coated to AAMA 2605; also built with an all-wood CoreGuard Plus-treated exterior
Design pressure rating: Aspen Collection: PG65 on dual-glazed clad casements to 38 x 96 in and awnings to 60 x 60 in; PG50 on casements to 42 x 76 in and picture units to 84 x 96 in (manufacturer brochure). Current redesigned clad casement: PG50 (+50/-50) on a 36 x 84 in operating unit
Idaho winters: A wood frame with foam-spacer dual or triple Low-E glass holds up well in zone 5B cold; Sierra Pacific quotes dual-pane LoE-272 argon Aspen units at a 0.26 U-factor and triple-pane argon as low as 0.14, though your exact unit's NFRC label is the number that counts
Idaho summers: LoE-366 or LoE-340 glass on west and south elevations knocks solar heat gain down to the high-teens SHGC range center-of-glass, and the wood interior never gets hot to the touch the way bare aluminum does
Wind exposure: PG65 on the Aspen casement is well above what a typical valley lot needs and comfortable for exposed foothills and bench sites; large mulled Aspen assemblies used a 1/4-inch steel reinforcing plate, which is worth knowing before anyone cuts into a mull for repair

Last reviewed 2026-09-10 by Wood Windows Inc, Garden City, Idaho

Specifications & Testing Data

Specifications and testing data
Frame material	Solid wood interior (ponderosa pine standard; alder, maple, cherry, mahogany, Douglas fir, walnut, white oak optional) with extruded aluminum exterior cladding at least twice the thickness of roll-form clad, powder-coated to AAMA 2605; also built with an all-wood CoreGuard Plus-treated exterior
Design pressure (DP) rating	Aspen Collection: PG65 on dual-glazed clad casements to 38 x 96 in and awnings to 60 x 60 in; PG50 on casements to 42 x 76 in and picture units to 84 x 96 in (manufacturer brochure). Current redesigned clad casement: PG50 (+50/-50) on a 36 x 84 in operating unit
AAMA performance class	AAMA 2605 powder coat standard on most colors; Textured Collection finishes are AAMA 2604
Glass options	Dual-pane Cardinal LoE-272 or LoE-366, LoE-340 glare control, LoE-180 passive solar, LoE-i89 room-side coating, Triple-pane Low-E with argon, Tempered, Decorative and privacy glass, Simulated divided lite or grilles between glass
Available styles	Casement (hidden-lock, folding handle), French casement, Awning, Picture / direct set, Radius and arched tops, Mulled and stacked combinations

Wood Windows Inc is not an authorized Sierra Pacific dealer. We service, repair, and replace Sierra Pacific windows and doors throughout the Treasure Valley. This page is for the homeowner who already has Aspen casements in the wall and wants to understand them before deciding what to do about a fogged pane or a stiff crank.

What the Aspen Collection Actually Is

The Aspen Collection is Sierra Pacific's casement and awning family within its aluminum-clad wood line, and for most of the 2010s and early 2020s it was the window an architect meant when they specified "Sierra Pacific clad." Two things set it apart from the company's Standard casement sold beside it. First, the locking hardware is buried in the frame instead of mounted on the side jamb, with a low-profile crank that folds into a metal cover. Second, the structural package was heavier: Sierra Pacific's own literature rates dual-glazed clad Aspen casements to PG65 up to 38 by 96 inches, adds a 1/4-inch steel plate for longer mull and stack runs, and runs a continuous foam weatherstrip around the frame.

Construction is conventional clad-wood done carefully. The interior is solid wood treated with the company's CoreGuard Plus preservative, ponderosa pine by default and seven other species by order. The exterior is extruded aluminum, which Sierra Pacific describes as at least twice the thickness of roll-form cladding, in 70 powder-coat colors meeting AAMA 2605 (the Textured Collection is AAMA 2604). An all-wood exterior version was also offered, and we see those on a handful of Idaho projects that wanted stained Douglas fir outside as well as in.

Where it sits in the lineup: above the Standard and Urban casements, beside the H3 Fusion Technology line that uses a vinyl base frame, and separate from the Monument hung windows. In 2025 Sierra Pacific introduced a redesigned clad casement, awning, and direct set with a magnetic-capture handle and hidden lock, and its current site lists the Aspen awning as obsolete, so Aspen is now effectively a legacy line that lives on in tens of thousands of homes.

The Numbers That Matter

Sierra Pacific quotes an Aspen dual-glazed unit with Cardinal LoE-272 and argon at a 0.26 U-factor, and a triple-glazed argon unit as low as 0.14, which meets Passive House criteria. Those are the manufacturer's best-case figures. The realistic spread for a dual-pane clad casement of this construction, based on the NFRC data Sierra Pacific publishes for its current clad casement, runs roughly 0.27 to 0.30 with LoE-272 or LoE-366, dropping to 0.19 or 0.20 with triple glazing; SHGC ranges from about 0.18 with LoE-366 up to 0.27 with LoE-272. Your unit's exact rating is on its NFRC label or etched into the glass spacer, and that number, not any website's range, is what counts.

Glass was Cardinal throughout, assembled on Sierra Pacific's no-metal TrueWarm foam spacer, which matters in Idaho because a foam edge stays warmer than a metal one and resists the condensation line along the bottom of the glass in January. Structurally, PG65 on the casement and PG50 on picture units to 84 by 96 inches is stronger than most residential clad-wood competitors of the same era.

Where It Fits in Idaho — and Where It Doesn't

We find Aspen windows in custom and semi-custom homes from roughly 2005 onward, typically supplied through lumber yards to builders in the foothills, the Eagle and Star river corridors, and the larger Meridian and Nampa subdivisions where a builder upgraded from vinyl to clad-wood. They are good windows and most of them are aging normally. What fails is what fails on all clad-wood casements: the insulated glass seal, usually first on west and south exposures after 12 to 20 years; casement operators and hinge tracks on tall sashes; and weatherstrip that no longer springs back. Interior finish failures near the sill are almost always a condensation and humidity issue rather than a wood defect, and CoreGuard-treated stock generally shrugs off the rot we see on older untreated pine.

Where Aspen is not the answer is where nothing new can be bought from us: since Wood Windows is not a Sierra Pacific dealer, an owner who wants to add a matching window to an addition has to go through a Sierra Pacific dealer for the new unit, and a mixed-brand elevation is a legitimate option we help people plan.

Repair, Glass, or Replacement

For a fogged pane in a square, tight frame, we replace the insulated glass unit to matching dimensions and glass spec, which keeps the wood, the cladding color, and the sightlines you already have. Operators, hinges, and weatherstrip are sourceable for most units. When a whole elevation has multiple failures, or the owner wants to change glass performance across the house, we quote like-for-like clad-wood from the lines we carry and service in-house: the Andersen 400 Series casement for a direct visual match at a competitive price, the Marvin Ultimate for extruded-aluminum cladding and species choices closest to Aspen, and the Kolbe Ultra Series when someone wants deep customization and AAMA 2605 color matching.

Warranty and Service, Locally

Sierra Pacific's current residential wood/clad warranty (products made on or after May 1, 2017) covers dual insulated glass for 20 years, triple insulated glass for 10, AAMA 2605 finish against cracking and checking for 30 years with prorated coverage after year 20, wood deterioration for 20 years, parts for 10, and labor for 2, all transferable to a later owner. Warranty claims start with Sierra Pacific in Red Bluff at 800-824-7744; keep your original paperwork or a photo of the label. Out of warranty, or when you simply want a local crew you can call, our own employee installers, never subcontractors, handle glass, hardware, and full replacement from Garden City, as they have for 46 years.

Aspen casements fogging or fighting you? Request a quote on this page or call (208) 376-2200.

Warranty, line by line

Dual-pane insulated glass 20 years · Wood deterioration 20 years · AAMA 2605 clad finish 30 / 25 / 20 years · Parts: hardware, weatherstrip, standard screens, wood components 10 years · Labor 2 years from manufacture · Vinyl products (separate document) 20 / 20 / 10 years. Labor: Two years from the date of manufacture, only when Sierra Pacific elects to repair or replace, and excluding repainting or refinishing. After that, all labor is the owner's. Read the full breakdown →

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I tell if my clad-wood casements are Sierra Pacific Aspen windows?

Open the sash and look at the side jambs. Aspen casements hide the locking hardware inside the frame, so you see a clean wood jamb and a low-profile crank handle that folds into a metal nesting cover. A Sierra Pacific Standard casement from the same era shows exposed lock levers and an Encore folding handle. Either way, the frame or glass spacer usually carries a Sierra Pacific label or etched NFRC code, and we can identify the unit at a free in-home assessment.

What typically goes wrong with Sierra Pacific Aspen windows in Idaho?

The same three things that eventually visit every clad-wood casement: fogged insulated glass once the edge seal gives up, casement operators and hinges that get stiff or strip out on tall sashes, and weatherstrip that flattens after a couple of decades of freeze-thaw. Powder coat on the cladding generally holds up; south-facing dark colors are the ones that show chalking first. None of it is unusual, and most of it is fixable without replacing the frame.

How much does it cost to replace failing Sierra Pacific Aspen casements?

Swapping a fogged glass unit into a sound Aspen frame typically runs a few hundred dollars per opening installed, depending on size and glass package. Full clad-wood replacement of a casement in a comparable line we carry, such as the Andersen 400 Series or Marvin Ultimate, commonly lands in the low-to-mid four figures per opening installed in the Treasure Valley. Those are broad, typical ranges; we quote every opening individually after measuring.

Is the Aspen better than the Sierra Pacific H3, or should I match it when replacing?

They are different constructions. Aspen is a conventional two-material clad-wood window, aluminum skin over wood, with structural ratings that led Sierra Pacific's lineup. The H3 adds a vinyl base frame between the aluminum and wood for a thermal break and integral nail fin, and it was aimed more at production builders. Because we are not a Sierra Pacific dealer, we cannot quote either one new; we service both and, for replacement, match sightlines with clad-wood lines we do carry.

Sources & Testing Data

Last reviewed 2026-09-10 by Wood Windows Inc — (208) 376-2200

Sierra Pacific Aspen Collection (Aluminum-Clad Casements & Awnings): Specs, Testing Data & Idaho Fit